Educational robotics critical for the future of Linux Jason Kridner, Sitara Applications, Texas Instruments Co-founder and board member,

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1 Educational robotics critical for the future of Linux Jason Kridner, Sitara Applications, Texas Instruments Co-founder and board member, BeagleBoard.org Foundation

2 Abstract Jobs are being automated. Students aren't getting sufficient STEM literacy. Many lack the problem solving skills to be effective at driving that automation, rather than being a victim. Educational robotics is a compelling and effective way to reverse that trend. Lower-cost, easierto-use and inherently collaborative platforms can help ensure these programs expose all participants to programming and electronics. Computing is inextricably a human endeavor to get machines to serve our will. Linux provides opportunities to teach critical concepts including how to collaborate, aide understanding with instrumentation, simplify various tasks with existing solutions and expose students to the possibilities of their endeavors. Not only do these students need Linux, but Linux needs them and the solutions to the challenges they'll tackle for the next generation.

3 We need jobs for youth Let them flip burgers If they don t have something productive to do, then they are going to mooch off you Robots took the manufacturing sector jobs and the service sector is next

4 Sorry, our burgers are flipped by robots Images borrowed from

5 So, from where are the jobs coming going to come?

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7 We need STEM education for youth My job is secure, the world will always need embedded Linux experts Just because we are scarce, doesn t mean the demand is high Why should the public know they should care about free and open source (as in any type of visibility or control), privacy and security (in the broadest embedded system sense) or their ability to impact the future of technology? The Gandalf Effect He was probably pretty lonely

8 We need hardware I have plenty of challenging algorithms to solve without needing to touch hardware OK, maybe that s not this Linux audience Ask yourself, What is the likely impact of what I m creating? Today s hardware is an impediment to productivity I ll say it again, atoms are valuable and electrons are cheap

9 Technology looks different to youth A Z80, EPROM and a speaker were all I needed to get excited about programming Kids are growing up where Halo is their idea of Hello World Arduino-style blinky-led is cool, but is it empowering enough? Robots can be different enough from their experience today to be exciting, simple enough to be accessible and complex enough to invest a lifetime of exploration

10 We need community That s cool, but I don t really need Linux in the robots Consider why LEGO MINDSTORMS added Linux Eyes on the security, network and otherwise Support for configuration management across hundreds of units Linux enables us to go in and understand what is going on in the robot

11 Relevant projects to Linux ROS - Robot Operating System - messaging layer, hardware abstractions Dronecode, ArduPilot, Paparazzi UAV, others - Auto-pilots, flight planners ev3dev.org and lejos.org extend LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 open source OpenCV - vision IIO - a likely way to get to the interfaces BeagleBone Blue and libroboticscape

12 libroboticscape - C functions Init/Cleanup īnt initialize_cape() īnt cleanup_cape() īnt kill_robot() Flow state rc_state_t rc_get_state(); int rc_set_state(rc_state_t); Buttons int rc_set_pause_pressed_func(void_fp); int rc_set_pause_released_func(void_fp); int rc_set_mode_pressed_func(void_fp); int rc_set_mode_released_func(void_fp); rc_button_state_t rc_get_pause_button(); rc_button_state_t rc_get_mode_button(); int rc_print_state();

13 libroboticscape - C functions DC motors īnt rc_set_motor(int motor, float duty); īnt rc_set_motor_all(float duty); īnt rc_set_motor_free_spin(int motor); īnt rc_set_motor_free_spin_all(); īnt rc_set_motor_brake(int motor); īnt rc_set_motor_brake_all(); Encoders int rc_get_encoder_pos(int ch); int rc_set_encoder_pos(int ch, int value); Servos and ESCs int rc_send_servo_pulse_us(int ch, int us); int rc_send_servo_pulse_normalized(int ch, float input); int rc_send_esc_pulse_normalized(int ch, float input); int rc_send_oneshot_pulse_normalized(int ch, float input);

14 libroboticscape - example utilities kill_robot rc_bare_minimum rc_blink rc_test_buttons rc_test_motors rc_test_encoders rc_test_servos rc_test_dsm rc_bind_dsm rc_calibrate_dsm rc_test_imu rc_test_dmp rc_test_barometer

15 We need Linux education These microcontroller hacks are going to are going to screw up the kernel OK, this audience the lieutenant process prevents that, mostly Seriously, they need help IIO needs more sensors Kernel drivers (falsely?) seen as adding too much latency Even Linux Foundation projects are using other kernels